Typically, an NFL team hires a head coach who then hires his staff. Sometimes (like in Oakland, when Al Davis owned the team), the team hires members of the staff before hiring the head coach.

Rarely does that approach work.

And so there’s another possible red flag when it comes to the Eagles’ ongoing search for a coach. An item posted on the team’s official website points to reports regarding the leading candidates to become the team’s next defensive coordinator: Georgia defensive coordinator Todd Grantham (pictured) and Florida defensive coordinator Dan Quinn.

This creates the obvious impression that folks other than the next coach will be deciding who may be on the staff. Really, at a time when it’s unclear who the next coach will be, why should there by any favorites to become the next defensive coordinator?

It’s possible that the leading candidates for defensive coordinator are tied to specific candidates for the head-coaching job. Quinn, for example, has worked for Seahawks defensive coordinator Gus Bradley. Grantham has no obvious ties to any known candidates for the job, but it’s possible that, for example, Brian Billick or Ken Whisenhunt would want him.

Still, the idea that there’s an even narrower field of leading candidates for defensive coordinator than there is for the head-coaching job contributes to the unintended but palpable sense of confusion surrounding the Eagles’ head-coaching job, a sense that began with a trio of failed flirtations with current college coaches.

I cannot for the life understand why teams would make information like this public.

What does it gain? Who does it benefit?

The only possible explanation I can think of is that one or both of these guys is highly regarded by a particular one of their HC candidates and they are trying to send a message to that candidate that they are a front runner for the job.

But why even do that? Why not just call the candidates agent and say “your guy is a front runner for our job”?

crubenst says:Jan 16, 2013 10:12 AM

Roseman is now playing fantasy football with the coaching staff. Fail!

dolphins4 says:Jan 16, 2013 10:13 AM

Just hire Ken Whisenhunt,Lovie Smith or Jon Gruden already.

trollhammer20 says:Jan 16, 2013 10:14 AM

Quinn has worked with both Bradley and Carroll before. If Bradley is hired, Quinn is rumored to be the leading candidate to take his place in Seattle.

So, if the Eagles hire Bradley, and both teams want Quinn to be DC, he’ll have a choice between coaching the Seattle defense and the Philly defense….and between Paul Allen’s checkbook and Jeffrey Lurie’s checkbook.

Cut me a break is this why we can’t get our head coach? Howie wants to choose the asst coaches also. The head coach picks his staff and has to live with them not Howie. Jon Gruden will get us to the playoffs next year. Mr Lurie if you reall want to win hire a proven winner

If you interpret the contents of that website as correlating directly to the intentions of the Eagles FO, you’re making a mistake. They post anything and everything on there, including links to articles that are critical of the FO. It’s likelier that Dave Spadaro got bored and started researching dc’s w/ ties to the coaching candidates than it is that Howie told Dave he’s going all Al Davis, AND is using Dave to tip his hand.

This coaching search sure has been strange. I dont’ really care who the Eagles hire. Roseman is awful..just flat out awful and he and Laurie are not putting the team in a position to win.

Laurie put all the blame on the horrific 2010/2011 drafts on Andy Ried, not Roseman, even though Roseman was the one who “found” Danny “the fireman” Watkins and told Andy Reid that’s our next stud O-lineman. Even though he’s on record saying Jaquwain Jarrett was the “best tackler” in the draft.

Fact is the Eagles appear disorganized and unsure what they want to do, and it would not shock me one bit if Howie picked some of the coaching staff.

It should be noted- Gus Bradley and Dan Quinn were together in Seattle for a (year- maybe two?)
Quinn was the D-Line Coach while Bradley was the DC.

phillyfan75 says:Jan 16, 2013 10:43 AM

Geez, what a reach. The article was written by an intern about rumors out there on the internets, which linked Quinn and Grantham as potential defensive coordinators that Bradley would be interested in bringing in.

No evidence whatsoever that the Eagles are dictating defensive coordinators to prospective head coaching candidates, but of course, your site wouldn’t get nearly as much traffic if it didn’t fill the void with abject speculation would it?

That link is removed from their website now. This organization looks completely inept right now. They don’t know their head coach, yet they claim to have a short list for D-Coordinator only to remove the post shortly thereafter. These guys not only fail to run the football operation, but they seem to struggle terribly with PR these days.

For the precise reason that there are no top defensive coordinators available, the Eagles need to hire Gus Bradley. And, they obviously like him, as evidenced by them flying Gus to Philly on a private jet, and hosting him at the personal residence of Jeff Lurie – overnight. You don’t do that with someone you aren’t very interested in. Bradley does not sign with the Birds, is it because he sees something he does not like there, or is it the other way around? In that case the Eagles are down to a couple of former head coaches, and if Wisenhunt is the guy, they will have a problem hiring a known quantity on the defensive side of the ball, which is why it could be Lovie Smith. The only other possibility, and it is a long shot, is that the Eagles really want Roman and are waiting until the 49ers are out of it to talk to him, before deciding. Roman’s mother lives in Ventnor, NJ – a beach community that is a stone’s throw away from Philly. Crazier things have happened.

justintuckrule says:Jan 16, 2013 11:09 AM

Like I said in an earlier post. The Eagles should just hire Snoop Dogg already. Have any of you seen the fire he gets out of his Compton Raiders? They’d make the playoffs next year for shizzle my dizzle!

grandpoopah says:Jan 16, 2013 11:10 AM

It begs the question: what exactly is Jeff Lurie doing in the photos Howie Roseman is blackmailing him with?

randomcommenter says:Jan 16, 2013 11:12 AM

Why Grantham? Georgia’s defense was terrible, especially when you consider how many future NFL draft picks were on that defense. With all that talent , Georgia should have been dominant on defense. Instead, they gave up 300 yards rushing to Georgia Southern.

Maybe the eagles want a college guy who has experience against RG3’s college offense, but you would think they would at least hire somebody who was good at it.

brohamma says:Jan 16, 2013 11:17 AM

Ouch!! When comparisons of your team involve Al Davis.. you Eagles fans better run for the hills.

Philly’s apparent obsession with college coaches, first for the head job and now for the D-coordinator role, is really very strange and suggests to me that they have grossly misunderstood where the league is headed. With the success of some mobile quarterbacks in Washington, Seattle, SF, and to varying degrees in Indy and Carolina (in terms of the mobility and the success, respectively), there certainly has to be an adjustment to the approach of NFL defenses. But the game isn’t totally turning into the college game overnight. The change is much more subtle than that and does not have to be answered by a total change in strategy by the defenses.

Three of the four remaining QBs still playing are traditional drop-back pocket passers. Accounting for mobile QBs is certainly something teams will have to consider, but basing your whole organizational philosophy around it is incredibly stupid. Based on the last few years, the Eagles should know that having a QB with wheels isn’t necessarily the answer.

The only thing worse than not identifying a trend is identifying one that doesn’t exist.

myeaglescantwin says:Jan 16, 2013 11:27 AM

I love how the nation feels that Philly is screwing up this coaching search.

We fans were met with the same backlash and slander when we booted McNabb,, then again when we booted Reid.

When will the country realize that PHI isn’t as unknowing as they hoped?

Jeff McLane Tweeted that 36 coaches were hired from 06-11 24 of them came on 1/15 or after. SOooooo why is this a big deal now?

The eagles are interviewing every single candidate they can to get the best man for the job.
They found that each college coach lacked the intangibles to lead the squads.
Now they are only interviewing candidates from successful championship programs,,,
Is that bad?

the chiefs, Browns and bills have all hired coaches ASAP… and its decisions like those that will keep those franchises in the dirt for another 20 years..
But Philly,, one of the only teams using due diligence is being persecuted…
makes sense if you don’t think about it.

rugdaniels says:Jan 16, 2013 11:28 AM

I’m not an Eagles fan, but I do think they’re getting a bad rap in the press during this coaching search. The Eagles front office and PR team aren’t doing themselves any favors though, they’re not really giving the impression they’re on top of things.

allnflfan says:
Jan 16, 2013 10:05 AM
Hey, the NFL always needs a few perpetual bottom dwellers. Four, five years of top five picks and a 4th place schedule for the Birds will get them right back to .500 football.

—————————————————-
Ok, one more time – there is virtually no strength-of-schedule seeding in next year’s scheduling-by-team in the NFL. Opponents in 14 of the 16 regular season games are pre-determined well in advance, say, 3 – 5 years, and only TWO games are affected by how you finished THIS year (you finished last, this year, therefore, you would play last place finishers in two other divisions next year) ONLY TWO Games of the 16! And, with the way the NFL changes, each year, those last place teams could be killers – Indy Colts, for example – 2 – 14 in 2011, becomes playoff team the very next season. And, if you play a last place team from a great division, vs. a lousy division, you still might not have it that easy.

Last thing – if it takes Chip Kelly 4 – 5 seasons to get back to .500, we won’t have to worry about him as head coach. If it takes Howie “Gee Whiz” Roseman, as GM, 4 – 5 drafts to get to .500, no worries there, either. They will both be long gone!

Hiring a college coach and college co-ordinators makes absolutely no sense. Howie is scared an NFL coach would stand up to him.

mogogo1 says:Jan 16, 2013 12:54 PM

Wonder if this totally changes now that Chip Kelly is the coach? Hard to imagine he’d sign on and not demand the power to hire his staff. (Though given his total lack of NFL experience, if I were a GM I’d definitely want some input on who he was choosing as a defensive coordinator.)